REGIONAL UNCERTAINTIES CONFRONT VICTORIOUS RULING PARTIES IN JAMAICA AND GUYANA ELECTIONS

By Staff Writer

With the ruling parties in Jamaica and Guyana retaining power in last week’s elections, their new terms could largely be characterised, not just by national issues but by how they navigate the dramatic shift in the geopolitical dynamics playing out in the region.

In Jamaica, Prime Minister Andrew Holness won a historic third straight term for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), winning 34 seats of the 63 seats. The main opposition People’s National Party(PNP) won the other 29, and in doing so, more than the 14 it got in the 2020 election.

In Guyana, despite some challenges lodged about the final count, President Irfaan Ali’s People’s Progressive Party (PPP) was assured of victory with at least 36 of the 65 seats. The new We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party displaced the main opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)as the country’s second most popular party.

In population, economy and global profile, both Jamaica and Guyana - especially via their high-profile leaders - are pivotal to how Caricom (Caribbean Community) navigates itself through the turbulent international relations turmoil now threatening the region.

At issue is the intensification of the US military presence in the Caribbean, in what Washington says is a determined push against drug trafficking linked to criminal gangs in Venezuela. The Trump administration has gone as far as implicating Venezuela’s socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro as a facilitator…if not an outright accomplice.

It’s into this maelstrom that the reinstated leaders, Prime Minister Holness of Jamaica and President Ali of Guyana, both strong allies of the US, find themselves having to take a leading role for the region.

Along with their Caricom colleagues, both are confronted by probably the most complex and volatile issue to test the strength of the regional partnership in recent history.

Their individual relations with Venezuela is a complicating factor.

Caracas has a longstanding border dispute with Guyana, claiming around two-thirds of its territory, including a vast area of Guyana’s newly discovered oil reserves. American interests are at stake as the US petroleum giant Exxon is spearheading the development of Guyana’s oil industry which is already transforming the country’s economy.

The US recently deployed a powerful naval force to patrol the waters off Venezuela, with some American media reports speculating about the possibility of direct military action against Venezuela as relations between the two sides worsen.

The US military forces have already confirmed that they blasted a speeding boat out of the water between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, killing eleven people on board who they say were trafficking drugs.

Already, several Caribbean leaders have stated their views on that development, ranging from outright support to caution mixed with a tinge of doubt. There are questions about the cargo, the justification for the killing of the occupants on the boat, and the location of the incident, which the US said occurred in international waters between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.

What’s particularly challenging for Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali and their regional counterparts, is that this escalating dispute between two external protagonists threatens to test the very fabric that holds the Caricom grouping together.